Michelle Shih
Michelle Shih M.Mus, B.Mus, B.Mus.Ed.
- Jazz, classical & improvised music guitarist
- Co-director, Jazz Workshop Australia
- Teaches guitar — jazz, classical, and creative improvised music
Michelle Shih is a guitarist whose playing spans jazz, classical music, and creative improvised music. She is Co-director of Jazz Workshop Australia, where she also teaches guitar and leads jazz combos.
Michelle holds three degrees: a Bachelor of Music Education (majoring in guitar performance) from National Tainan University, a Master of Musicology — researching traditional Taiwanese music and dialect — from National Taiwan University, and a Bachelor of Music in Improvised Performance from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She was a specialist primary school music teacher in Taiwan before moving to Australia.
As a performer, Michelle is perhaps best known in Sydney as co-leader of MiSa Jazz, a guitar duo she shares with JWA Principal Saul Richardson. The duo performs jazz and creative improvised music and has built a strong following on the Sydney live music scene. She is also a founding member of Calque, an improvised music ensemble, and of Tarro’s Ladder, a jazz/prog fusion group — also with Saul Richardson.
Michelle’s background in classical guitar is formidable. She won first place in the Taiwan National Classical Guitar Competition in 2000 and has given recitals as both a soloist and ensemble performer in Taiwan, China, and Australia.
Michelle Shih is herself a Jazz Workshop Australia alumna — she studied at JWA before joining the faculty, and took on the role of Co-director in July 2025.
